Page 28 of Coming Home

She doesn’t respond, and I send another text. This time, I try to be nicer about it. “Send me a picture, please.”

A few minutes go by, and finally I get the picture. As soon as I open it, I can’t look away. Her smile is shy, but her eyes are lit up, telling me she knows how this picture will affect me. I take it all in. The curve of her neck, the way her lips curl up with her smile, the blue of her eyes, and the stories hidden behind their depths. I could look at her all day, but my phone pings with another text from her.

“Your turn. Pay up. I want a picture of you.”

I sit up a little straighter. All the times I’ve asked her for pictures, she’s never asked me for one. I don’t think about posing or anything; I am just thinking of her when I take the picture.

I inspect it, and sure enough, I look like a man in love. I’m a goner for sure. Will she see it when she looks at it?

I hit send before I can talk myself out of it.

She puts a heart on the picture and replies, “Thank you, Huddy.”

I swear I can hear her soft voice saying my name, and my cock twitches in my jeans.

“I’m bringing home dinner. What would you like?”

“I made dinner… and I have a surprise for you.”

“Dinner and a surprise? You better watch it because I may not want to ever let you go. You spoil me, you know that, right?”

She sends a laugh out loud emoji. “Really? I think it’s the other way around, but don’t get too excited. It’s only lasagna, but the surprise is pretty cool. When are you coming home?”

I’m up out of my seat in an instant. I holler to my brothers I’m leaving as I walk down the hall and text her back. “I’m on my way.”

I toss my phone into the cup holder, and it rings as I pull out of the parking lot. I recognize Walker’s number on the screen on the dash and hit the answer button. “Hey, Walker, what’s up?”

I’m driving across town, and even though I’m thinking about Ellie, I’m trying to focus on what Walker has to say.

“Hey there! I’m just following up. Were you able to get any more details from Elle?”

I shake my head. “No, I haven’t gotten anything else.” The truth is, I haven’t wanted to push her. It took her a while to get comfortable at the house. She felt like she was in my way, and I’ve tried to reassure her every step of the way that I love having her there. I just hadn’t wanted to go backwards by forcing her to talk about things she wasn’t ready to talk about.

Walker sighs into the phone, and my stomach drops. “What? What are you not telling me, Walker?”

“Well, the mayor is still looking for her. I started tracking him and his son. It seems he’s as shady—and probably more dangerous—than his father. His name is Alan Casey, and he’s had fifteen arrests in the last ten years, but they’ve all been dismissed. It seems that five of the women he intimidated have disappeared.”

I pull to the side of the road, knowing I need to pay complete and full attention. “What do you mean, disappeared?”

I can hear the anger in his voice. “I mean disappeared. Vanished. Three have missing persons reports on them. Two have shown up dead.”

“Fuck!”

He agrees with me. “My sentiments exactly, but I wanted you to know because I have someone tailing the son now.”

“Thanks, Walker. Whatever it costs, keep an eye on it for me.”

“You got it. But you do know it would be a lot easier if we knew exactly what we’re dealing with here.”

“Fuck, I know. I’ll work on it the next few days. I was hoping she’d come to me with it, but if she doesn’t, I’ll talk to her.”

“Good. I’ll keep you in the loop. Later.”

I disconnect the call and sit back in my seat. I can’t—I won’t—let anything happen to her.

I pull out onto the road, and by the time I pull into the driveway, I’m so mad I could punch something. Not knowing is the worst.

I force myself to sit here and take deep breaths. Going inside to face Ellie pissed is not the answer. She hasn’t done anything wrong.

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